UT Smart Communities Initiative - SCI

10/07/2017

Congrats to Brad Collett and the SETD! So pleased to work with such talented and dynamic folks.

Four students in the School of Landscape Architecture earned a top national award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for their publication, HydroLIT, Southeast Tennessee Water Qualit…

12/03/2016

Last night, students from HRT410, Strategic Planning class, presented their Strategic Marketing Plan in downtown Lenoir City at Bucks Bros Building thanks to Diane Powell. Students were divided into five teams: Research, Marketing, Packages, Design, and Photography teams and presented their plans to bring tourism sustainability, to downtown Lenoir City. The students also showcased their PhotoVoice project highlighting both negative and positive attributes of Lenoir City. Lenoir City stakeholders, including Loudon County Visitors Bureau Director, Rachel Baker, UT faculty, and Kelly Ellenberg from SCI, were very impressed with their work. They also enjoyed prepared food by Chef Tyler and HRT410 students. Bravo team on a fantastic semester!

12/02/2016

Invitation below from SCI's UTK Retail, Hospitality & Tourism Management participants, Stefanie Benjamin and students. Don't miss this!

Please join our University of Tennessee HRT410 Strategic Planning in Hospitality and Tourism Seniors in presenting
“Explore Lenoir Through a New Lens”

Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management students worked this semester with The University of Tennessee’s Smart Communities Initiative and Loudon County Visitors Bureau in creating a sustainable strategic marketing plan and photovoice project to help bring tourism to downtown Lenoir City. This reception will highlight their work and showcase to the community their suggestions through a presentation, short film, and photograph display.

Where: Buck Bros./ Old Rexall Building
100 & 102 E. Broadway
Lenoir City, TN 37771
When: Friday, December 2, 2016 (5:00-7:00pm)

Light appetizers and dessert will be served by RHTM Culinary/Hospitality Students

11/30/2016

A special invitation from one of our outstanding SCI courses:

A Communication Strategy for Lenoir City Downtown Revitalization

You are invited to the public relations students’ campaign presentation on December 1st at 2:00 p.m. in Scripps Lab
in the Communications Building at the University of Tennessee.
Please email [email protected], for directions or more information.

Hope to see you there!

Refreshments will be served – Parking available in Circle Park

11/28/2016

In case you missed it, here's a snapshot of our Tourism Management SCI course, focused on developing plans for sustainable tourism in Lenoir City.

“Our department is training students to be experts in the field of tourism and hospitality; so hopefully, our completed strategic marketing plan will help Lenoir City’s revitalization efforts and showcase our students’ creativity and hard work.” -Stefanie Benjamin, assistant professor of Retail, Hospitality, & Tourism Management

http://tntoday.utk.edu/2016/11/03/students-work-attract-tourists-lenoir-city/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Read%20more...&utm_campaign=tntoday

11/23/2016

Happy Thanksgiving! At the SCI we are thankful for the work our Lenoir City partners and our faculty and students have done together this semester! Here is the first of several press stories we will be sharing over the next week.

Our Adverting & Public Relations students have been meeting with a diverse group of citizens and community leaders to identify opportunities and develop strategies to capitalize on Lenoir City's unique sense of place. SCI Professor Candace White emphasizes the importance of this engagement, and student Elizabeth Rosenthal agrees.

"After years of learning theories and studying for tests, nothing is quite as gratifying as turning classroom knowledge into real-world experience by working for a client," Rosenthal said.

http://www.cci.utk.edu/ut-pr-students-creating-campaign-downtown-lenoir-city

Nineteen public relations students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are working on a PR campaign that will help get residents excited about revitalization efforts afoot in downtown Lenoir City.The students are part of a class taught by Candace White, a professor in the School of Advertisin...

09/26/2016

Thank you to the Southeast Tennessee Development District for issuing us the Flame Award at their annual Full Board Meeting on Friday!

https://t.e2ma.net/message/shnjvd/gsr8p9

09/19/2016

Update from Dr. Benjamin re her HRT410 course: Took a Fam Tour of downtown Lenoir City with their host, Rachel Baker, Loudon County Visitors Bureau, this afternoon. They met with Civil War Re-enactor/Local Historian Gerald Augustus, Diane Powell owner of Buck Bros. building, Steve Harrelson of Lenoir City Parks & Recreation, and Joe Spence curator of the Lenior City Museum. It was a successful tour that will help HRT410 students with their strategic management plan in partnership with Smart Communities Initiative! The students are proposing niche markets to promote tourism sustainability to downtown Lenoir City.

08/17/2016

Welcome back, faculty and students! We are so excited to begin work with this year's Smart Communities Initiative partner, Lenoir City! Here's a preview of the work to come this fall!

• Lucy Simpson's Merchandising course will partner with downtown merchants to explore strategies for growth in line with existing area needs and potential markets.

• Candace White's Advertising & Public Relations course will develop a comprehensive brand strategy for the downtown in partnership with the Downtown Merchants Association, the Loudon County Chamber of Commerce, and community members.

• Tricia Stuth's Architecture course will propose redevelopment concepts and renovations for targeted downtown buildings, including a fire hall extension on the current City Hall building.

• Stefanie Benjamin's Tourism Management course will identify a broad range of strategies to engage tourists in the downtown area.

• Michael Handelsman and Luis Cano's Spanish students will engage Lenoir City’s Hispanic community in visioning and asset mapping for the future of downtown and the larger community.

Stay tuned for updates on the great work ahead!

Photo credit to Brandi Martin, Communications Studies major

06/15/2016

Exciting developments with the Woolen Mill project from our 2014-15 SCI partnership with Cleveland! Congrats to the great folks in Cleveland, Tennessee, as well as our own Tricia Stuth, Brad Collett, Deb Shmerler, and the many other talented faculty and students who contributed to this endeavor!

http://chattmag.com/2016/06/cleveland-opens-new-workspace-community-artists/

In the heart of Cleveland there stands an old historic building called the Old Woolen Mill. On the outside one can see graffiti covering the walls, broken windows, and fallen brick. The building itself looks like a piece of art. It’s no surprise then that the idea to develop an art incubator was bor...

04/20/2016

Please join this excellent conference hosted by our friends at East Tennessee Quality Growth next Thursday. This will be the third year for the Plain Talk conference, and the theme for 2016 is Connecting Competitive Communities. Join national and state experts in a discussion on how to leverage the uniqueness and character of Tennessee communities.

East Tennessee Quality Growth will host its third "Plain Talk" conference at the Airport Hilton in Alcoa on April 28 with a focus on connectivity and infrastructure in a 16-county region of East Tennessee.

04/18/2016

Don't forget to RSVP for the SCI Showcase Event Wednesday night! We look forward to seeing you there!

https://t.e2ma.net/message/k7x6tc/gsr8p9